Process-symptom-bridges in psychotherapy: An idiographic network approach

Real-time monitoring of psychotherapeutic processes was recently described as a promising, new way of tracking periods of change in ongoing treatments. This approach generates complex, multivariate datasets that have to be presented in an intuitive way for clinicians to aid their clinical decision-making. Using network modeling and new approaches in centrality analyses, we examine “bridge nodes” between symptom stress and aspects of the psychotherapeutic process between therapy session (intersession processes, ISP). Method: We recorded intersession processes as well as depressive and anxiety symptoms using daily questionnaires in ten cases. Regularized, thresholded intraindividual dynamic networks were estimated. We applied bridge centrality analysis to identify individual bridges between psychotherapeutic processes and symptoms in the resulting models. Casewise interpretations of bridge centrality values are offered. Results: Bridge centrality analysis revealed individual bridge nodes between intersession processes and symptom severity. Strength and direction of bridges varied substantially across individuals. Conclusion: Given current methodological challenges, idiographic network studies are feasible and offer important insights for psychotherapy process research. In this case, we demonstrated how patients deal with periods of increased symptom stress. In this case we have described how patients deal with their therapy under increased symptom load. Bridges between psychotherapeutic processes and symptom stress are a promising target for monitoring systems based on ISP. Future studies should examine the clinical utility of network-based monitoring and feedback in ongoing therapies. In the near future, process feedback systems based on idiographic models could serve clinicians to improve treatments

Experimental test of photonic entanglement in accelerated reference frames

The quantization of the electromagnetic field has successfully paved the way for the development of the Standard Model of Particle Physics and has established the basis for quantum technologies. Gravity, however, continues to hold out against physicists' efforts of including it into the framework of quantum theory. Experimental techniques in quantum optics have only recently reached the precision and maturity required for the investigation of quantum systems under the influence of gravitational fields. Here, we report on experiments in which a genuine quantum state of an entangled photon pair was exposed to a series of different accelerations. We measure an entanglement witness for $g$ values ranging from 30 mg to up to 30 g - under free-fall as well on a spinning centrifuge - and have thus derived an upper bound on the effects of uniform acceleration on photonic entanglement. Our work represents the first quantum optics experiment in which entanglement is systematically tested in geodesic motion as well as in accelerated reference frames with acceleration a>>g = 9.81 m/s^2.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Epidemiology of pleural empyema in English hospitals and the impact of influenza

Pleural empyema represents a significant healthcare burden due to extended hospital admissions and potential requirement for surgical intervention. This study aimed to assess changes in incidence and management of pleural empyema in England over the past 10 years and the potential impact of influenza on rates. Hospital Episode Statistics data were used to identify patients admitted to English hospitals with pleural empyema between 2008 and 2018. Linear regression was used to analyse the relationship between empyema rates and influenza incidence recorded by Public Health England. The relationship between influenza and empyema was further explored using serological data from a prospective cohort study of patients presenting with pleural empyema. Between April 2008 and March 2018 there were 55 530 patients admitted with pleural empyema. There was male predominance (67% versus 33%), which increased with age. Cases have increased significantly from 4447 in 2008 to 7268 in 2017. Peaks of incidence correlated moderately with rates of laboratoryconfirmed influenza in children and young adults (r=0.30). For nine of the 10 years studied, the highest annual point incidence of influenza coincided with the highest admission rate for empyema (with a 2-week lag). In a cohort study of patients presenting to a single UK hospital with pleural empyema/ infection, 24% (17 out of 72) had serological evidence of recent influenza infection, compared to 7% in seasonally matched controls with simple parapneumonic or cardiogenic effusions (p<0.001). Rates of empyema admissions in England have increased steadily with a seasonal variation that is temporally related to influenza incidence. Patient-level serological data from a prospective study support the hypothesis that influenza may play a pathogenic role in empyema development

Creativity Bento Box: a physical resource pack to support interaction in virtual space

The Creativity Bento Box is a physical resource pack, designed to support casual social interaction and break taking in an intensive, computer-mediated social activity. It was developed within the Creativity Greenhouse project, which piloted a mechanism to create research proposals and distribute funding at a distance. This involved facilitated phases of collaboration and competition over multiple days of computer-mediated work, where participants communicate and interact through a virtual world. During the iterative development process, the lack of time for socialising, the intense focus on virtual resources, and a lack of time spent away from the screen were reported as negative issues in feedback from participants. We report on the development of the Creativity Bento Box and how it helped to address these issues. By providing physical resources that contrasted with the properties of the virtual world, it supported people to socialise and take breaks from their primary activity, allowed them to include physical space and artefacts in their interactions, and provoked moves away from the otherwise intense focus on the computer. We reflect on the roles of the Bento Box as a gift, in bridging between physical and virtual contexts, its higher suitability during the earlier phases of ideation and group development, and its perception by participants as something ‘framed’. Through this, we highlight the underexplored potential of using physical, offline resources as a means to solve difficulties in distanced social interactions

Creativity Greenhouse: at-a-distance collaboration and competition over research funding

This paper describes the design and evaluation of a novel mechanism to develop research proposals and distribute funding: Creativity Greenhouse (CG). Building on an established funding sandpit mechanism for co-located participants, communication technologies and structures were designed to support similar activities at-a-distance. Given a particular topic, selected academic participants collaborate during an ideation phase, then form sub-groups around selected ideas to develop research proposals and compete for the available research funding. This paper details the motivations for developing a distributed approach, before describing our iterative design process and trials. We describe an iterative design and evaluation process to support at-a-distance ideation, group formation, and then competitive development of proposals in a shared virtual space, leading to the detailed evaluation of a full-scale CG event that resulted in the distribution of £1.85 Million of funding. This work contributes a novel, fully-developed mechanism to produce research projects, evaluated ‘In the Wild’. Our findings are explored with regards to distinctions and similarities between co-located and distributed events, participant well-being and pastoral care, and the capacity of technologies to mediate complex combinations of cooperative and competitive group work. Through this, we contribute knowledge of how to effectively support research funding events, and also to wider understanding of high-stakes, computer-mediated processes, that involve complex creative and social processes